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Thursday, April 29, 2010

Soviets Victorious!

The West Tokyo Wargamers had another great game of BKC last Sunday, and certainly winning one helps to keep up the motivation to churn out more Russians!

We really are getting to grips with the rules, and a lot of things which seemed to be odd are beginning to make sense as we get experience with the rules (as we thought would be the case!). In particular the suppression rules seem to be making much more sense.

Last game saw the closest we had seen to an infantry-vs-infantry combat, but the time it took to slog across the table meant that the game pretty well came to an end before close combat could commence.

Next time we will start from further on the table, and/or have the armour come in later. That, and start buying trucks and halftracks! another option would be to increase movement and firing ranges, maybe by 1.5 those specified in the rules.

We also decided that we need more terrain- a lot more! Between us, that is going to be the big push for this month on the modelling front.

On to another topic, and when I started basing my 20mm figures on the FoW bases, I textured the bases using Tamiya acrylic putty. For reasons I mentioned in my last post, this wasn't really satisfactory.

But I've found that simply covering the stand with PVA and dipping it into a box of budgie sand is indeed the best way to go. When it dries, it sets rock-hard and I can paint and drybrush it the same way I did when using putty. And it blends in just about perfectly with the other stands I have painted as you can see here.

The machine gunners dragging their Maxim gun forward have had the base textured using sand, and I've now painted it to match the others such as the AT rifle stand on the left. This was the last one I did using putty.

The 120mm mortar in the back, along with a prone MMG and flamethrower stand will be the next to get the treatment.

I don't go for a lot of foliage on my WW2 stands. I want a colour palette that matches the minis. I find that simple is more effective, and as the army grows it really gives it a unique- and unified- look.

I've been collecting my own miniatures for about twenty years now, so they come from a wide variety of manufactures. Mostly direct order, or stuff I brought back with me from my visits to Canada.

The tanks and other more common fighting vehicles I've picked up locally over the years. I managed to snap up a large percentage of my 21 Fujimi T-34/85's when I lived in Tohoku! Hobby Link Japan is a good source too.

Most of the guys locally have been getting their models from various shops in and around Tokyo- Akihabara has a pretty good selection.

You mention "other" historical figure gamers, so I assume you are in Japan too. Where are you located?

Well, if I get up to Tokyo sometime I'll have to check out the model shops in Akihabara then. Thanks for the tip!

I'm in Wakayama, so get most of my stuff through mail order and pick up the odd set of plastics when I visit New Zealand. Look forward to reading more of your posts, anyway, and let us know if you're ever down Osaka way and fancy a game.